Fears over housing benefit cuts

The payments – which help cover the rent of about 3,000 people in private housing in Oxford – will drop by £150 per month for a four-bed house, down to £29.55 a month for a shared room, prompting fears of homelessness and a city exodus, according to housing chiefs.

But the Government believes the handouts, paid to the unemployed and those on low incomes, have spiralled out of control.